04 August 2015

Texting Addendum

If you missed it, last Friday’s blog post, Analygesic Texting, reviewed the value of texting as a distraction during minor surgery. For this addendum, I was ready to illustrate other distractions, but I must have been distracted. I already illustrated distractions and not long ago (Distractions Addendum).

Then I considered and quickly gave up on defining texting abbreviations or acronyms. There are too many; they keep evolving--imagine ending with LOL, which even I know is laughing out loud, when you really mean lots of love; those that haven’t changed are more familiar to you than to me since I don’t text; and I already at least referenced texting shortcuts in an earlier blog post on why I don’t tweet (Tweet?). The shortcuts are the same, aren’t they?

Anyway, that kind of left me with a problem. Problem? I thought. Why not illustrate problems, problems related to texting?

I have to lead with the worst problem: texting when driving. You know that, don’t you? And you would never do that. (Multiple websites)

But texting when walking can also be tricky. (Multiple websites)

It’s easy to walk into things--poles, curbs, people or, in this case, a sidewalk grating. (Multiple websites)

At least one city in China has reduced the texting-while-walking problem by setting aside walking lanes for cellphone users. (Multiple websites)

Excessing texting can cause thumb or hand pain. You might try special gloves or exercising, for example, with Thumbell, which was unveiled in 2013 by O2, a mobile phone service provider and device company in the U.K. (news.o2.co.uk/2013/07/29/fitfor4g/)